DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by [Mar et al (Fig. 4); 6,191,660].
Regarding claim 1, Mar et al discloses an amplifier circuit comprising a trimming circuit (106) which outputs a trimming code (output signal of 106), a bias generator (102) which is coupled to the trimming circuit (106) to generate a bias current (output signal of 102) according to the trimming code (output signal of 106), and a compensation output circuit (104) coupled to the bias generator (102) to receive a data code and output the bias current (output signal of 104) corresponding to the data code to the DDA (110).
Regarding claim 2, wherein the trimming circuit (106) comprises a look up table (LUT in 106) to store a plurality of trimming codes corresponding to a plurality of data codes.
Regarding claim 4, wherein the compensation output circuit (104) is further coupled to a latch circuit (latch circuit in 110) to receive the data code from the latch circuit (latch circuit in 110).
Regarding claim 10, wherein the trimming code (output signal of 106) is determined by measuring an output voltage (output signal of 110).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 6 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over [Mar et al (Fig. 4); 6,191,660] in view of [Lee et al (Fig. 3); 9,013,236].
Regarding claim 6, Mar et al discloses all the limitations in claim 6 except for that the input stage of the DDA comprises a plurality of basic input pairs and an auxiliary input pair. Lee et al discloses an amplifier circuit comprising a plurality of basic input pairs (242 and 252, 241 and 251, 222 and 232) and an auxiliary input pair (221, 231). It would have been obvious to substitute Lee et al’s plurality of basic input pairs and the auxiliary input pair in place of Mar et al’s DDA since Mar et al discloses a generic DDA thereby suggesting that any equivalent DDA would have been usable in Mar et al’s reference.
Regarding claim 9, wherein the compensation output circuit (104) outputs a first bias current (output current of 104) to the auxiliary input pair (221, 231).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 5, 7 and 8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
2020/0,136,577 teaches a differential amplifier circuit with the trimming circuit.
2008/0297246 teaches a differential amplifier input stage with the trimming circuit and bias circuit.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Henry Choe whose telephone number is (571)272-1760. The examiner can normally be reached MONDAY-FRIDAY 5AM-11:00PM.
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/HENRY CHOE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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